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Zhu Yuan in Zenless Zone Zero is an limited S-rank Attack Agent who deals ether anomaly damage. As an Assault Agent, she acts as the team's main ether DPS, able to deal heavy damage from a distance, deal both physical and ether damage between her two modes, and deals additional damage to stunned enemies.
In this guide, you will find the best burst DPS builds for Zhu Yuan as of the ZZZ 1.0 release. Rather you are a F2P player or a spender, this guide is for you! *Note that these builds assume base mindscape level.
Overview
Currently available on the limited banner as of version 1.0, Zhu Yuan, the leader of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, is an ether elemental damage agent that is able to acts as the team's main DPS. She is able to switch between two modes, Assault and Suppressive, dealing both physical and ether damage. She is able to gain Enhanced Shotshells upon executing her 4th or 5th basic attack while in assault mode, with her assists, ex special, or chain attack. Her core ability allows these enhanced shotshells to deal even more damage, and when attacking stunned enemies, to deal even more. A key part of her kit is her additional ability, which grants her an innate 30% crit rate bonus for 10 seconds after an ex special, chain, or ultimate, making it much easier to build her for Crit Damage instead of Crit Rate.
Below, you will find Zhu Yuan's best W-Engines, Disc Drives, Stats, Skills, Bangboo, and team!
W-Engines
S - Riot Suppressor Mark VI
⭐ Crit Damage
- Increases CRIT Rate by 15%. Launching an EX Special Attack grants the equipper 8 Charge stacks, up to a maximum of 8 stacks. Whenever the equipper's Basic Attack deals Ether DMG, consumes a Charge stack and increases the skill's DMG by 35%.
- As Zhu Yuan's Signature W-Engine, it fits perfectly with her kit, as not only does it grant Crit Damage, which with her additional ability granting her 30% crit chance, it will also boost her damage considerably upon her executing her Ex Special followed up by basic attack.
S - The Brimstone
⭐ Attack
- Upon hitting an enemy with a Basic Attack, Dash Attack, or Dodge Counter, the equipper's ATK increases by 3.5/4.4/5.2/6/7% for 8s, stacking up to 8 times. This effect can trigger once every 0.5s. The duration of each stack is calculated separately.
- As Zhu Yuan is a very fast attacker, she will be able to constantly keep up the maximum amount of stacks for this W-Engine, ensuring she gets the most out of the attack boost.
A - Cannon Rotor
⭐ Crit Rate
- Increases ATK by 7.5/8.6/9.7/10.8/12%. Attacks that land a CRIT on an enemy will inflict an additional 200% of ATK as DMG. This effect can only be triggered once every 8/7.5/7/6.5/6s.
- As Zhu Yuan already has a high crit rate if you take into account her additional ability, opting to go with Cannon Rotor makes it so that you can pretty much ignore crit rate on her Disc Drives in favor of going all out on Crit Damage, not to mention the attack boost and 200% bonus attack that could cause her ultimate to do a lot of damage.
A - Starlight Engine
⭐ ATK
- Launching a Dodge Counter or Quick Assist increases the equipper's ATK by 12/13.8/15.6/17.4/19.2% for 12s
- Upon executing a dodge counter, Zhu Yuan gains 1 enhanced shotshell, along with dealing ether damage, so you will end up using her dodge counter a lot, hence the passive from this W-Engine will be activated constantly, granting a nice attack boost for when she rotates in.
A - Street Superstar
⭐ ATK
- Whenever a squad member launches a Chain Attack, the equipper gains a Charge stack, stacking up to 3 times. Upon activating their own Ultimate, the equipper consumes all Charge stacks, and each stack increases the skill's DMG by 15/17.2/19.5/21.7/24%.
- Zhu Yuan's ultimate attack does a lot of damage, so with this W-Engine, you will be able to deal even more burst damage, although the other 4 above in my opinion are better options for her.
Disc Drives + Stats
Option 1 - "Critical Justice"
4 Piece Chaotic Metal
(2) Increases Ether DMG by 10%.
(4) The equipper's CRIT DMG increases by 20%. When any character in the squad triggers Corruption's additional DMG, this effect further increases by 5.5% for 8s, stacking up to 6 times. Repeated triggers reset the duration.
2 Piece Wood Pecker Electro
(2) Increases CRIT Rate by 8%.
Main Stats: IV. Crit DMG | V. Ether Damage | VI. ATK
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. Crit DMG | 2. ATK% | 3. Crit Rate | 4. Anomaly Prof
This build is fully focused on maximizing Zhu Yuan's critical hit and critical damage passives. Not only does her kit already have a build in 30% crit rate if her additional ability is active, but her core stat is also Crit DMG, so this build boosts the effectiveness of her even more by taking advantage of this. You should forgo raising her Crit Rate too much on her substats, or at least keep it at a low priority in favor of Crit Damage, especially if you're using her signature W-Engine or Cannon Rotor. You will want an ether focused team in order to make the most out of this build.
Option 2 - "Rapid Response"
4 Piece Puffer Electro
(2) Increases PEN Ratio by 8%.
(4) Ultimate DMG increases by 20%. Launching an Ultimate increases the equippers ATK by 15% for 12s.
2 Piece Chaotic Metal
(2) Increases Ether DMG by 10%.
Main Stats: IV. Crit DMG | V. Ether Damage | VI. ATK
Sub stats in order of priority:
1. Crit Rate or Crit DMG | 2. ATK% | 3. Pen (If using Pen Ratio) | 4. Anomaly Prof
This build focuses on Zhu Yuan's Burst DPS potential. She is, currently, the top burst DPS in the game, meaning, unlike Ellen who prefers to stay on the field, Zhu likes to pop in and out considering how many enhanced shotshells she has currently. So, combining the fact that she is a burst DPS and that her ultimate deals a lot of damage, this build further enhances her burst DPS capability. Not to mention, you get Pen Ratio, meaning she can deal even higher damage.
Skill Priority
ALWAYS PRIOIRITZE CORE SKILL FIRST!!!
1. As a main DPS, most of Zhu Yuan's damage will be from her basic attack with suppressive mode.
2. Zhu Yuan is able to spend her Enhanced Shotshells with her dash attack, meaning you will be using this a lot along with her basic attack.
3. Zhu Yuan's ultimate deals a very heavy amount of concentrated damage, upping her burst DPS capabilities by a lot. You'll want to upgrade this equally along with her Special.
4. You'll want to level this up equally with her chain attack in order to maximize her capabilities as a burst DPS.
5. This should be the very last thing you worry about, all of her other skills are on a different level in terms of priority, although it does do some Daze Damage which will help stun enemies in order to activate her passive more often, but you should have a dedicated stun unit for that.
Bangboo
S - Resonaboo
Key Trait - When there are 2 or more Ether Attribute characters in your squad: Bangboo Chain Attack inflicts 100% more Anomaly Buildup.
If you are opting to use an Ether team to help trigger Corruption status more often, then this will be your best in slot bangboo, as their chain attack will inflict 100% additional ether anomaly buildup.
S - Butler
Key Trait - When there are 2 or more Victoria Housekeeping Co. character in your squad: Active Skill generates an additional 20% Energy.
If you are going for the non ether team and are going for a full premium team with Rina and Lycaon, then Butler will be your best pick as they will give additional energy in order to use your EX Special more often, to further increase Zhu Yuan's utility as a burst DPS.
A - Devilboo
Key Trait - When there are at least 2 Ether Attribute characters in your squad: Bangboo Chain Attack inflicts 40% more Anomaly Buildup. After activating Bangboo Chain Attack, the coordination state lasts for 5 more seconds and can activate 4 more times.
A slightly weaker version of Reasonaboo, but will still greatly increase the rate of applying corruption to enemies, so the second best pick for your Ether Team.
A - Sumoboo
Key Trait - When there is at least 1 Stun character in your squad: Active Skill inflicts 18% more Daze to enemies whose Daze is above 50%.
As Zhu Yuan relies heavily on attacking stunned opponents in order to deal the most damage, Sumoboo is a great general pick, as you will generally always want a stun unit in her squad in order to make the most out of her passive.
Optimal Team Comps
Team 1 - Ether
As there is currently only 2 ether units in the game, this team consisting of Zhu Yuan, Nicole, and Anby will serve as your Ether Team as of version 1.0. With this team, the additional ability of all involved will be met, which in Zhu Yuan's case, her CRIT Rate is increased by 30% for 10s after using an EX Special Attack, Chain Attack, or Ultimate. You absolutely need a stun unit in the squad in order to take advantage of her core passive, dealing more damage to stunned enemies, and Anby allows Nicole to have her additional ability active, making this currently the only team that fits all criteria for your Ether focused team.
Team 2 - Premium
This team, consisting of all S Rank Agents Zhu Yuan, Lycaon, and Rina, will give you the ideal premium team for Zhu Yuan as of version 1.0. With Rina as your support, that alone is enough to meet the criteria of Zhu Yuan's additional ability, as well as Lycaon, as they are both in the same faction. With Lycaon being the best stun unit in the game, you'll also be able to take advantage of Zhu Yuan's core passive much more often. Rina also provides the team with Pen Ratio, making Zhu Yuan an even more effective burst DPS.
Overall Thoughts
As the second limited unit, Zhu Yuan is an extremely powerful and exceptional burst DPS who can deal damage both close up, and at a range, making her a safer option compared to most DPS in the game. Her additional ability is very versatile, only needing either another ether agent with her, or any support, meaning she can fit in with a wide range of setups. She does rely heavily on stun and keeping up with her enhanced shotshells, but much like Ellen, once you get the hang of her kit and skill ceiling, she will remain the top contender for best DPS for some time to come.
